Fraser Cain
Universe Today
Dr. Pamela Gay
CosmoQuest
We’ve talked about water on the Moon many times here on Astronomy Cast, but there have been a bunch of big updates, thanks to new research from NASA and others. Today we’re going to give you an update on the state of water on the Moon and the plans to take advantage of it.
All eyes are on the Moon. We’re going back, this time to stay… right? One of the best resources on the Moon will be the lava tubes that crisscross the subsurface of the Moon. These can provide protection from space, and a look into the geologic history of the Moon. And they can be enormous.
The Moon is about to become a very busy place, with multiple countries and private companies planning missions in the next few years. It’s been decades since the Outer Space Treaty was negotiated. It’s time for the Artemis Accords.
As scientists continue to explore the Earth, they’re discovering life surviving and even thriving in extreme environments. What hints can this give us about what we might find as we search for life on other worlds?
Recent Episodes
The sudden brightening of Comet McNaught has reminded us what a treat it can be to see a comet with the unaided eye. A diffuse ball with a long tail stretching across the sky. There's nothing else in the night sky that can compare to a bright comet. But what are these...
There's a big bright comet visible in the sky right now. Listen to this special alert, and then go outside right at sunset to see Comet McNaught with your very own eyes. You've got to move quickly, as it'll be lost in the glare of the Sun. Don't worry, it'll reappear...
We're finally ready to deal with the topic you've all been waiting for: Schwarzschild swirlers, Chandrasekhar crushers, ol' matter manglers, sucking singularities... you might know them as black holes. Join as as we examine how black holes form, what they consume, and...
We take the Moon for granted, but its effect on the Earth is very important; possibly even critical for the formation of life. But where did it come from? Did the Earth and Moon form together? Or did the Earth capture a wayward Moon? Or was there a more catastrophic...
We see the Universe in visible light with our photon detecting eyes. We can feel infrared heat with our photon detecting hands, and we get sunburns with our ultraviolet photon detecting skin (ouch). But there's a whole spectrum of photons out there, from radio waves...
We finally get organized enough deal with several listener questions: isn't dark matter just regular stuff we can't see? how can parts of the Universe be expanding faster than the speed of light? what will Betelgeuse look like when it explodes as a supernova? what's...
No more suspense. This week we blow the biggest stars up. Kaboom. Want more details? Then you've got to listen. Download Episode 14: We're all Made of Supernovae (12.3 MB) Jump to Shownotes Jump to Transcript or Download (coming soon!) Shownotes Transcript: We're All...
We've celebrated the birth of new stars, but the stellar lifecycle doesn't end there. Stars like our Sun will spend billions of years fusing together hydrogen and pumping out energy. And when the fuel runs out, their death is as interesting as their birth. This week...
Most parents have had that uncomfortable conversation with their children at some point. Mommy, Daddy, where do stars come from? You hem and haw, mumble a few words about angular momentum and primordial hydrogen and then cleverly change the subject. Well, you don't...
The discovery of dark energy was one of the biggest surprises in astronomy. Instead of a nice, predictable expanding Universe, acted on only by gravity, astronomers turned up a mysterious repulsive force accelerating the expansion of the Universe. Fraser and Pamela...
Several of you have reported problems getting your iPods to play our show and other podcasts. Unfortunately, the latest version of iTunes has some new features that are making iPods behave oddly when they try to play podcasts that aren't in stereo. To fix this...
You hear distances all the time in astronomy. This star is 10 light-years away; that galaxy is 50 million light-years away; that Big Bang over there happened 13.7 billion years ago. But how did astronomers actually figure out how far away everything is? It's not a...
It's all relative. How many times have you heard that? Well, when you're traveling close to the speed of light, everything really is relative; especially the passage of time. This week, Fraser and Pamela give you the skinny on Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity....
Dress warmly, gather some friends and family, and head outside to watch sand burn in the upper atmosphere. There's nothing like a good meteor shower. Fraser and Pamela explain this beautiful phenomenon: what causes them, the best storms and showers to watch for, and...
Got your eye on that $40 telescope at Walmart? Wait, hear us out first! Fraser and Pamela discuss strategies for getting into amateur astronomy - one of the most worthwhile hobbies out there. We discuss what gear to get, where to look, and how to meet up with other...
Last week's episode started out with a bang... a Big Bang. This week we continue our discussion into the beginning of everything. We present three additional lines of evidence that have led astronomers to the conclusion that our Universe started out as a singularity...
As a tribute to John Mather and George Smoot, the two leaders of the Cosmic Microwave Background Explorer (COBE) satellite science team, and winners of this year's Nobel Prize for Physics, we head back to the beginning of everything... the Big Bang. Follow as we trace...
Dark matter . . . What is it? Nobody knows for sure, but it's definitely there. Or maybe it's not there, and we just need some redefinition of gravity at vast scales. Join Fraser and Pamela as we discuss the discovery, detection, and possible explanations of dark...
You have lived on the Earth all your life, so you'd think you know plenty about planets. As usual though, the Universe is stranger than we assume, and the planets orbiting other stars defy our expectations. Gigantic super-Jupiters whirling around their parent stars...
Look down at your feet. There... you're looking at a planet. Now look into the night sky and you should be able to spot a few more. After that, spotting additional planets becomes really hard, especially when you're trying to find them orbiting other stars. This week...